The invention relates in general to firearms and in particular to apparatus that attach to the muzzle end of firearms.
Excluding handguns, most small arms used in the U.S. military have a flash suppressor or muzzle compensator affixed to the end of the barrel. The particular muzzle device is installed during barrel production and generally not removed over the service life of the barrel. Additional training or combat accessories such as a blank firing attachment (BFA) or sound suppressor are then attached to the flash suppressor. Standard flash suppressor configurations include closed-end or open-end. While open-end flash suppressors are more effective at reducing the flash signature, closed-end flash suppressors are preferred in densely vegetated combat environments to prevent unwanted snagging of plant life.
Because the known flash suppressors are not meant to be removed, soldiers are restricted to a single configuration regardless of the fighting environment. This results in an unavoidable compromise in performance. Providing an alternate barrel with each flash suppressor configuration is an expensive and unsatisfactory solution. Changing the flash suppressor from the fielded configuration is not feasible either as this function cannot be easily accomplished at the operator level and would cause an unacceptable supportability burden.
Another problem relates to blank firing attachments (BFA). A BFA facilitates automatic cycling when firing blank ammunition to mimic normal weapon operation. Many BFA designs utilize a threaded stem that is hand-tightened to a flash suppressor during installation. Thus, installation and removal of the BFA requires threading and unthreading the BFA from the flash suppressor, which is a time consuming process. This general design also tends to vibrate loose during firing, which requires periodic retightening by the user in order to maintain consistent performance. Yet another problem with some firearms is the lack of a secure mounting platform that offers quick installation and removal of a sound suppressor without the use of special tools.